Chapter 93: War in Valhalla 2
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TioIroh99 (10 chapters ahead)
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"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Ghost Rider"
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Batman POV
'This was not in the plan' I thought. What was happening right now, counting the eventualities of the gods, certainly weren't in the plan. We had done a lot of mock battles, strategized with everyone, and our initial plans had been ruined.
'But all is not lost'
I quickly analyzed the situation. It wasn't hard to see notice that Ares had something to do with it. The city and the gods were compromised, and from their almost robotic behavior, I could tell they were being controlled. However, the control was not absolute, or at least, they still retained some of their original behavior.
'They did not lose their pride as gods'
When we arrived, Ares greeted us with a generic speech I've heard from any power-hungry villain. Nothing new. But then, with his command, all the gods attacked us like a force of nature. There we had to move to dodge the long distance attacks at their full power.
But, although they all attacked us, none of them attacked as a team. On the contrary, each one attacked in his own individualistic way. In short, they still had their divine pride. A pride that deep inside them prevented them from lowering themselves and working together as loyal soldiers.
In short, this battle will not be a group battle, but can be attacked individually. Strategies can still be used. And my mind was already working at full power to choose the most ideal one.
Not counting Thor, we are 20. They are 12. Ares, by his behavior, body expression, and tone of voice is unlikely to join the fight. Thinking about the weaknesses we have already analyzed, and thinking that here they are at their maximum....
'Got it' I finally thought of the ideal strategy. Now it only remained to see if the armor would do the trick.
'This is going to hurt'
As I said, we all moved because of the surprise attack. I ran towards a couple of houses made of ivory that were serving me as a shield against the god closest to me, who was launching quite powerful lightning arrows. Which, if I am not mistaken, was the Inca god of lightning, Illapa.
'Attacks from a distance. He can't fly. But has good hand-to-hand combat. Hunter's character. Reserved. Calm temperament, but when angry he is fierce...' I went through every part of his file. When I finished, I gave myself a pep talk and moved on.
"Come on Bruce, you have to do it"
Without further hesitation, I stepped out of my hiding place and caught his attention. He noticed me instantly when he stopped shooting arrows, as he waited for my move.
Near me was Vixen and Metamorpho also taking cover. They were going to come out to support me, but I quickly signaled them to hold their position. Then, with my same hands, I signaled them to be on the lookout, to which they quickly nodded.
Illapa stood still, watching me. Like a hunter watching the behavior of his prey. I didn't like that feeling. His gaze, blood red eyes, and his face paint, made my discomfort grow. But I did not deign to show it on my face. I remained impassive. As always. For, as is well known, Batman never shows weakness.
'3, 2, 1...' finally I moved.
I ran devilishly backwards. There this god moved. He started throwing arrows at me, which I barely dodged. However, when he shot the last one, I stopped and waited. Like a bullet, an arrow with several white bolts of lightning was headed for me. If my vision did not fail me, it was headed straight for my heart.
But I didn't move. I waited. And I waited and waited and waited. When it was just inches away, I finally moved.
For a man without powers, it was useless to try to see the arrow. But my reflexes, derived from multiple trainings with Superman and Flash, had allowed me to develop a sixth sense that made me dodge my vital parts and let the attack hit me near my left shoulder.
The wound was going to be horrific, but not fatal. Even so, the arrow sent me flying at least a good meter. And I can't deny it, it hurt like hell. However, I didn't divert my focus. When I saw it was going to attack me again, I yelled out.
"Metamorph, Vixen, NOW!"
They both moved. Vixen at a speed of a Gazelle, picked me up and pulled me off. And Metamorpho, who had absorbed the metal from our suit, had erected a wall of said metal, fending off Illapa's relentless attack.
"That was idiotic, Batman. Taking a direct attack was against the rules established in the training. Rules that YOU set" Vixen commented to me. I nodded towards her observation, but made no apologies. There was no need. There was a need for what I did.
"I know. It was risky, but necessary. Look at my suit" That's when it hit her. Metamorpho was still defending, but he too turned at my words.
They both saw how the part of my shoulder, which should have had a serious wound, was missing. On the contrary, it looked completely intact. Even, showing the charge of my suit, since this suit had electronic commands connected to everyone and OMAC, I could see that it had shot up in power.
Illapa's energy had charged my suit and left me with no scratches. It hurt, yes, but nothing fatal.
"Now I proved that the suit works. And that the metal, that experimental metal that Ryan Choi created, does serve as a material for the dissipation of divine energy"
"That means..."
"It's time to fight back"
I activated communications. And I headed towards the members who seemed lost.
Some had already started fist fights against the gods (Superman and Icon), some were still dodging attacks or hiding, thinking it was the best they could do, and some were running around aimlessly trying to help everyone, but not really trying to do anything (Flash).
But we were still passive. And that was not to continue. It was time to fight back. With my hand on the communicator, I opened the global comm and commanded.
"Attention Justice League, this is Batman speaking. I have verified that the suit is working, and that the gods, although mind-controlled, are still maintaining their usual behavior. Let's activate strategy 'D'. Do NOT hold back"
When I said those words, everyone moved. I watched as many came out of hiding and ran in pairs. Others were going alone, but already with a specific enemy. Vixen and Metamorpho also moved, but not before nodding their heads at the order I just gave.
I was going to move too, but before doing so, I communicated again on the intercom. But this time on a private channel directed to only two individuals. Martian Manhunter and Madame Xanadu, who was wearing the Doctor Fate's helmet
"Martian, Fate, do you copy?"
"We copy you, Batman"
"The gods have a kind of mind control. My guess is of magical origin. I ask much of you, but work together to try to dispel such control. It is unlikely, but perhaps we can avoid a battle if we stop their control"
"Understood"
"All right, Batman. We'll do it"
With that said, I moved. A cat goddess was waiting for me.....
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Edgar POV
We were like headless chickens running around at first, but Batman quickly took the reins and now we knew what to do. Strategy D.
As such, we worked and planned 6 strategies. Strategy A was the ideal one. Rescue our friend and avoid conflict. And as such, it was the least accurate strategy. Come on, it was obvious there was going to be a fight. The gods would not treat the invaders as drinking buddies.
Strategy B and C were about a fight, but in broad strokes. So to speak, a fight all against all, similar to the war we had with The Light. But that would turn the battle into one of attrition and that I, frankly didn't want.
I didn't want it because I would have to control myself. I would have to look out for my allies and reduce the size of my attacks. Something that was not in my favor in the context of the battle.
And finally, plan D. The ideal plan for me. One where we would split up and attack in pairs or individually to each god, taking the fight in an individual one. It would be difficult, but each one would have a task and that gave me free rein to fight in the conditions that most favored me.
About plan E, it was better not to talk about it. It was a crazy plan that we would only use in desperate situations.
The strategy of plan D was like this:
Ghost Rider vs Tezcatlipoca
Superman vs Nüwa
Icon vs Bishamonten
Wonder Woman vs Ishtar
Hal Jordan and Flash vs Olorun
Aquaman, Doctor Light and Vixen vs Susanoo
Plastic Man and Firestorm vs Pele
Hippolyta, Artemis and Metamorpho vs Illapa
Thor vs Perun
Martian Manhunter and Doctor Fate (Madame Xanadu) vs Amaterasu
Hawkman and Zatara vs Morrigan
Batman and Stargirl vs Bastet
The fights were set up so that we had the advantage. The gods had unmatched powers, but some had fairly obvious disadvantages that we could exploit. Like, for example, some couldn't fly. Others were only good in close combat, and so on.
Some teams was made to reduce our own weaknesses. And thus, be more effective. Example, the team of Batman and Stargirl. Bastet was a goddess with spectacular combat, and that Batman could counter with his abilities. But they would be in a stalemate.
That's where Stargirl comes in. She would give Batman the advantage by attacking at long range. Her cosmic stick allows her to throw lightning bolts that can hurt this goddess.
But this was no time to rant about strategies. I had to move too. A few meters away, I sensed my target. As I told him before, his damned signature was already stored deep inside me.
Surprisingly, Tezcatlipoca was still. As if waiting. Well, that was better. With my power, I activated a portal and threw my chain. This caught him off guard and he couldn't help but be enveloped by my weapon, sending him through the portal I created. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I dragged him all over the ground, destroying a couple of houses in the process.
This was to draw him away and have a more open fight. The city was huge and I could sense that just in a few trips with my portals, we were already a couple of miles away from where the other fights were brewing. This was perfect.
However, when I finally released the god of night, that's when I noticed the irregularity in his actions. He was off. As if none of my attack mattered to him. As if it had all been a...
'Shit'
Tezcatlipoca, or at least whatever it was that I was dragging, crumbled into dust. There, I confirmed that it was all a trap. Quickly, a black dome began to enclose a kilometer around where I was.
The dome felt similar to the other time. Made of Tezcatlipoca's power of the night. A slightly different power than Duke's or Raven's shadows, but more solid and resistant.
When this happened, a person materialized. This was the real Tezcatlipoca. He had fooled me with his divine signature, but this was the real one.
How I knew it? For this one had a beating heart, blood flowing in his veins and body heat. No person could create such a real illusion and fool my senses. This was the real god.
With his robotic voice, he addressed me.
"Fooling you was easy, Rider. I foresaw your intentions and planned this strategy. Now, you are trapped, with me, in this indestructible dome. You will no longer be able to prevent our Lord Ares from accomplishing his task. No one will be able to"
"And what task is that, Tezcatlipoca?" I finally spoke. My voice, raspy, carried with it a tone of doubt and curiosity. The god sounded robotic, clearly mind-controlled by something, but still carried a hint of arrogance. Within that control, was his subconscious at work.
"ABSOLUTE power. Become the King of everything. And he's about to achieve it"
'That didn't sound good' I thought.
"And you say I'm stuck with you..."
"For eternity. After all, the night is eternal"
Tezcatlipoca sounded confident in his words. As I had mentioned, with a hint of arrogance and presumption. I sense that at this point he thought I was going to get angry or start insulting him. But no. There was no point. On the contrary. To his surprise, I started laughing
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" my laughter, a rough, raspy and funny combination, straight out of the worst nightmares, resounded like an echo in the dome that made Tezcatlipoca alert.
"Why are you laughing, Rider?"
"Your words are funny, hahaha. You think I'm trapped, hahaha, with you? hahaha"
My demeanor changed and took a drastic 180 degree turn. The seriousness and threat could only be felt in my tone in my next words.
"I am not stuck with you...YOU ARE STUCK WITH ME. And it's time to suffer the consequences. The night is eternal, you say. For my flame can burn anything. Let's see how long the night lasts"
I activated my power and my fire became a light purple one. Slowly it was coming to white.
"Let's have fun, god"
Saying that, I moved. Tezcatlipoca would surely regret locking me up. Of that, there was no doubt...
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General POV
While the fight was going on, and Ares was starting his power ritual, in the subway part, Victor Stone was throwing all his armory at full power to open his cell. He was no longer locked in his shackles, but, still, he was inside, trapped by unbreakable glass, unable to get out.
"BANG, POM, BANG, BANG, POM, PANG!"
Multiple sounds of explosions could be heard, derived from the full power attacks of his plasma cannon. But, despite that, his incessant attacks did not make a dent against the crystal. Simply put, whatever was holding it back, it seemed to be of indestructible material.
"Motherbox, analyze the crystal"
<PIP, PIP. COPY>
He had no choice but to analyze the crystal. Honestly, it was the logical thing to do. And on other occasions he might have done it that way, but these were not like the other occasions. This time, he was blinded by the grave mistake he had made.
He had translated the book for Ares, and now he had the opportunity to become more powerful than he had ever been.
The book contained many secrets. Forbidden weapons. Control of the city. A tree connected to the source of origin whatever that was, and a ritual forbidden by Gaea herself millennia ago.
Unfortunately, in all that translation, they never talked about the prison they were in. And, above all, how to get out.
"It's useless, boy. You won't be able to get out by brute force" commented a voice to Cyborg. It was Lugh, who was in the adjoining prison next to him. There was mockery and a hint of anger in his voice. Clearly, he was angry at Victor for being so easily tricked by Ares.
"Help me. I beg you. Help me get out and fix everything. There is still time to avoid disaster. Ares has not yet done his task. Together we can defeat him"
"Ha, of course. And then we can go have tea and talk about our feelings, yeah, no thanks, you idiot. All is already lost. There is no salvation. Since you revealed everything to Ares, simply put, everything went to shit"
"I'm sorry. Yes, I screwed up. But I want to redeem myself. Help me get out of here. If you don't want to help me, at least tell me how to get out of here. I'm sure you know"
"And then what?" asked Lugh mockingly. "Are you going to take on Ares alone?, and assuming you do, how are you going to keep the other 12 gods from attacking you?"
"I...I...no..." Cyborg hesitated. He hadn't thought about it.
However, he wanted to get out. He had to. No matter if suicidal or stupid, he had to make amends. The earth depended on it. He was about to answer something, but at that, a loud rumbling was heard throughout the land that shook the entire cell.
"An attack on the castle. Dispelled surely by the barrier, but powerful"
"My friends..." Cyborg muttered. When the realization hit him, that's when he realized he wasn't alone. The Justice League was here. "My friends came. I'm sure of it. That was the Justice League's doing"
(AN: that was Thor's attack. Although it didn't destroy the castle, or Ares, still, it was so powerful that it rumbled the earth. That's why the cells felt it, since they are subway)
Lugh, though he wanted to refute, knew he couldn't. There were no other idiots, other than the heroes, who were suicidal enough to attack Valhalla.
<PIP, PIP. ANALYSIS COMPLETED. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE CRYSTAL COMPOSITION IS A MIXTURE OF BORON SILICATE REINFORCED WITH SOLID MAGNESIUM AND PROTHEUM. DONE IN ORDER TO DESTROY IT. ACTIVATING ANTIMATTER CANNON>
"I'll get out without your help, you idiot" with that said, Victor began his scuffle in front of the glass. Unlike the other times, it was slowly cracking. The cracks were such that it looked like it would soon give way. But just before the glass was destroyed, it was back to business as usual.
"DAMN!" Victor exclaimed. That attack was expending 40% energy. Practically, he had spent almost half of his battery and hadn't destroyed the fucking glass.
"The left corner"
"What?"
"Focus on the left corner" Lugh finally reinforced. This time there was no mockery. Only seriousness. In short, the god decided to help him. "Your Motherbox was right about the cell. Its composition was created a long time ago. But what your computer didn't know, was that the Germanic druids of my pantheon reinforced the prisons with a pendulum of unlimited energy. Whenever someone wants to destroy it, the energy immediately repairs it, making it indestructible. It's not the material you have to focus on. It is the energy system. It's in the bottom left corner. If you destroy it..."
"Are you sure?, I've spent a lot of energy, and if I keep going at this pace there's no point in going out"
"I'm sure. Just launch your attack there, and everything will be destroyed. Trust ME"
"Why should I trust YOU, you've just been apathetic and being a jerk to me"
"Sigh, sorry about that. But this time it's for real. There's a war out there, and if it's your friends, then now we have a chance to avoid it all. I'm going to help you. It's the least I can do" Lugh said, however, his voice was getting smaller and smaller, but, still, Victor could hear him. "And I have to keep my promise to my wife"
"Promise to your wife?"
"Yes, Viviane, the lady of the lake. I promised her, before her death, that I would protect what she swore to protect. The Earth and the humans in it" Lugh said longingly. There was a fondness in his voice that Victor thought he would never hear in this god. It was easy to see that he loved his late wife dearly. But then, as if not wanting to talk about this, he abruptly changed the subject and said to him, "Now do as I say, and destroy the damn glass. Come on, Cyborg, DO IT!"
With that, Victor no longer hesitated. He started shooting at the lower left corner. And it was true. As if by magic, the glass simply fell as if it were the most fragile glass in the world. It was done. And now, Victor didn't use even 5% of his power.
"Okay, let me get you out-"
"POM, POM, POM, POM, POM"
It rumbled the earth again, but this time, rhythmically. Like two drums shaking the ground with their song.
"Is this another attack?"
"No, this is worse. Much, much, much worse. Ares activated the cell's defense mechanism in case you got out. Help me get out, quick. You need my help for the incoming enemy"
"What enemy?"
At that, a door opened, revealing a 'robot', made entirely of platinum metal. It had no eyes, no mouth. Instead, it had a visor that looked like some sort of eyes and nose. It was very tall. At least half a meter taller than Cyborg.
Victor eyed him curiously. But he quickly changed his expression as the Motherbox started to go crazy.
<DANGER, DANGER, DANGER. QUASI-MULTIVERSAL LEVEL ENEMY DETECTED. PROCEED WITH CAUTION. RECOMMENDATION: RUN AWAY>
"What's that?" asked Victor. The sense of urgency grew greater when Lugh answered him.
"Something that should not be activated. An enemy with the ability to match and surpass the gods themselves. The Destroyer"